


Arms Like Towers

by hiddencait



Category: Black Sails
Genre: Alternate Universe - Firefighters, F/M, Pre-ship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-24
Updated: 2016-04-24
Packaged: 2018-06-04 03:40:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6639958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hiddencait/pseuds/hiddencait
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Keep me safe inside<br/>Your arms like towers<br/>Tower over me</p>
            </blockquote>





	Arms Like Towers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [poor_dumb_killian](https://archiveofourown.org/users/poor_dumb_killian/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [poor_dumb_killian](https://archiveofourown.org/users/poor_dumb_killian/pseuds/poor_dumb_killian) in the [pirate_prompts_2016](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/pirate_prompts_2016) collection. 



> (Theme song (and title) courtesy of Paramore ala We Are Broken. Bonus song would also be Let the Flames Begin – I just couldn’t help myself. 
> 
> BTW, while fighting with this fic and shifting my attention to my other Billy story, I read another fic (Beyond Attraction by fly_sekkiski http://archiveofourown.org/works/6485704 - you should totally go read it, it’s darling!) that has a VERY similar scene, but with Billy helping Abigail down the ladder on the ship instead of a fire engine ladder – I had already started writing this when I stumbled on the fic and the similar scene in my fic was the first thing I wrote for it. One of those very weird coincidences – I guess we all just really like the mental image of Billy pressed up against Abigail descending a ladder. Who can blame us, right? 
> 
> Also, this is not betaed as I just wanted to get the damn thing posted. My apologies for any errors I missed during my edits!)
> 
>  
> 
> **Prompt:**
> 
>  
> 
> Black Sails AU - Billy is a firefighter (and the rest of our favorite pirates can be included, along with any other ship as long as Ashebones is a thing) and Abigail is trapped in her third-story apartment and needs a ladder rescue.
> 
> I really just need the imagery of our favorite pirates as firemen. Someone make it happen :)

Abigail held her sheet to her face as she coughed again, wishing, for the first time ever during her four years as Kimber’s roommate, that she’d allowed the other girl to drag her out to the party she’d been going on about all night. Abigail would be having a terrible time, guaranteed, but she wouldn’t be here in her dorm room pressed against the screen on her window and praying for help to arrive.

 

She didn’t know who had caused the fire, but she _did_ know who was to blame for disabling the smoke detectors on the first and second floors. The quartet of girls had been disciplined several times for lighting up their cigarettes and blunts in their bedrooms, and Maintenance had replaced damaged smoke detectors four times this term alone. Each time the group had laughed and laughed, bragging about their parents being on the Academy Board of Directors and so being untouchable.

 

It had proven true so far, but if they were found to have started the fire, Abigail doubted the other board members would be as forgiving this time.

 

Not that their wrath against the delinquents would help her current plight now. By the time the third floor detector had gone off, smoke was already rising up the emergency stairwells, and when Abigail had tried to make her way down them, she’d been overcome with coughing. That hadn’t been the only danger either – flames flickered down below in the stairwell, too. There was no escape that way.

 

So she’d retreated back up to her room on the top floor, only pausing to check for any other girls trapped as she was. The floor had been deserted, though – apparently, Kimber’s party had been more popular than Abigail had guessed it would be. It was just her alone, waiting on a response to the fire alarms, and hoping someone would come soon enough for a rescue.

 

She managed to get the old window up with some effort, but the screen had refused to budge when she tried to kick it out. It was probably for the best – jumping from the third floor was almost guaranteed to break something. It would be a better option than burning to death, but she wasn’t that desperate.

 

Not yet.

 

Abigail vaguely remembered advice about wetting a sheet to breathe through to help with the smoke, and she’d dumped her water glass out, but it didn’t seem to be making a difference as far as she could tell. Hacking coughs still shook her, and her eyes burned with the smoke creeping in the room through the ill-fitting door. The fresh air through the screen was helping, but her breathing grew more and more labored.

 

Below her, a few girls stumbled into view. She couldn’t make out whether they were the likely culprits or dutiful daughters like herself, punished by chance for being where they were supposed to be tonight instead of out partying.

 

Abigail allowed herself one brief, bitter thought that perhaps, just perhaps, her father might regret shipping her off to boarding school against her wishes if she died in a fire at said school during her final term. She loved her father, sure, but she was feeling less charitable to his busy political career by the second.

 

Where were the fire trucks? Surely they had to be coming. Even if the fire alarms hadn’t triggered their appearance, one of the girls below must have called 911 by now.

 

Finally, _finally_ , the red flashing lights appeared in the distance and a pair of trucks roared into the dormitory parking lot. They pulled up as close to the building as possible, a pack of figures in yellow rubber jackets and trousers swarming out of the trucks as soon as they came to a halt.

 

For a moment, she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t find her voice against the rush of gratitude and hope that welled up, leaving a lump in her throat.

 

She pressed herself into the screen, holding up the sheet in hopes that the white fabric might show against the black mesh. Abigail coughed again, clearing her throat, and then screamed as loud as she could. “Here! I’m up here!” At first it seemed like none of those below could hear her, and panic rushed through her chest, giving even more terrified strength to her next shout. “Help me please!”

 

This time, the tallest of the figures below turned on his heels and looked up directly in the direction of her window. He waved once, then turned and rushed for the ladder truck, waving to some of the others and then pointing in her direction. The other firemen burst into motion, and within what felt like moments, the ladder truck was being turned and the ladder extended up and up until it came to rest against the building directly beneath her window. It was the same tallest fireman who began to climb, making his way up the metal ladder far more quickly than Abigail might have thought possible, particularly with a massive ax that might have been nearly her height strapped to his back.

 

“All you all right?” He said once he reached the window, and she nodded, still pressed up against the screen, relief at his arrival making it hard for her to speak. “I’m Billy. I’m going to get you out of here. What’s your name?”

 

This time she managed to force her name out if nothing else. “Abigail.”

 

He nodded, terribly sympathetic blue eyes pinning her in place. Billy smiled gently. “Abigail. It’s nice to meet you. I’m going to need to get this screen off, and you’ll need to be back a bit from the window, all right?”

 

Abigail jerked her head in a nod and took a few steps backward. He grinned approvingly. “That’s it. Keep the sheet up over your mouth. That will help. We’ll have you in the fresh air soon, I promise.”

 

With that, he pull the ax free of its strap behind him, then spun it so the wicked spike on the back of the blade faced forward.  He made a few sharp strikes against the edge of the window on one side, and then the other, before surveying whatever he’d done and nodding again, this time to himself. He returned the ax to his back, and then took a step down a rung on the ladder. Billy reached out to grip either edge of the window screen where he’d made his strikes, apparently finding a better handhold now. He took a breath and then jerked the entire screen free of the window, leaning forward to steady himself immediately after his yank.

 

Abigail had gasped at the motion, terrified he’d go tumbling over backwards, but he kept his footing, grinning at her with a boyish pride that had her tentatively smiling back and walking the few steps to the window again.

 

“Look out below,” he called, dropping the screen off to the side to fall to the ground. Abigail leaned to watch it land, only to realize she’d made a mistake as the ground seemed to rush up towards her. Through the roaring in her ears and her already strained breath coming in pants, she barely caught the sound of a voice right in her ear. “Hey now, none of that now. Look at me.”

 

A gloved hand came up and cradled her cheek and pressed gently until her face was turned away from the drop and toward’s Billy’s serious face. “There you are. You’re not falling. You’re safe.” She couldn’t respond, and he gripped her face just a little tighter. “Abigail,” he said firmly, and the sound of her name shook her out of her stupor. “That’s it. You’re right here with me. Just breathe for me best you can in all this smoke. In and out. Good girl. Again with me. In and out… In and out…”

 

Helpless to do anything but what he asked, Abigail trying to breathe as he instructed in between panicked coughing spells. After a few long breaths, her pulse finally calmed just enough that she could release the death grip she discovered she’d gripped the window sill with.

 

“That’s better,” he said, smiling at her again. “Think you’re ready to get out of here?” he asked, raising his brows at her. She nodded back, and he took another step down the ladder, putting a bit of room between them. “You’re going to need to sit on the window sill with your feet on the rungs. Can you do that for me?”

 

“Yes,” she said quietly, then again more firmly as she gathered her courage. “Yes, I can do that.”  She eased her way out, leaning on her nightstand for leverage and gingerly sliding her legs through the window. She had to duck slightly to get her head on the outside side of the glass. Once she felt as secure on her perch on the window ledge as possible, she let go of the nightstand and sat up straight, managing a trembling smile at him as he beamed at her.

 

“That’s good. You’re doing good, Abigail. All right, turn around now. I’ll be right behind you. I won’t let you fall.” He had to raise his voice to be heard over the crackling of the flames and the raucous noise of the sirens, but he still sounded calm and certain of her safety. Abigail took a breath, letting his calm soothe her and then did as he’d bid, turning gingerly on the window sill and reaching to find the ladder rung with her foot. She took that step down, then stepped down again with her other foot and brought her trembling hands to the ladder one after another.

 

“Good, that’s good,” he said again. “Here we go, then. Next step down.”

 

Billy was a solid line of heat behind her, his tall frame a wall between her and the open air. She took the next step down as instructed, bringing herself between his arms, bracketing her in. Abigail paused for a beat and let herself feel surrounded, safe there enclosed by his body and the ladder on all sides.

 

She wouldn’t fall. He’d promised her that. _She would not fall._

 

The rest of the journey down the ladder passed in a haze of smoke and heat. Abigail kept her eyes only on her hands on the rungs, ignoring the passing details of the dormitory beyond, not wanting another round of the vertigo that had nearly kept her from descending at all. All the while, Billy kept up a steady chatter of calm encouragement, shielding her from impending panic with the sound of his voice just as his body shielded her from the debris that had begun to fall from the roof of the building.

 

“We’ll need to go just a bit faster if you can. We’re almost there.” He gave a grunt of pain, then, and Abigail tried to turn to check on him, hoping he hadn’t been struck by the falling roof tiles. “No, don’t turn. Keep your balance.” He nudged her to face forward again, his voice carrying an edge it hadn’t before, and she resolved to climb faster as much to get _him_ to safety as to save herself. “We’re almost there,” he repeated. “Almost there.”

 

Reaching the roof of the fire engine came almost as a shock. She’d heard the hollow “clang thump” of Billy’s boots landing on solid metal, but she’d been too engrossed in keeping her footing to realize what it meant. Abigail almost stumbled in her surprise when her feet met the roof, but Billy was still there, one hand leaving the ladder to go to her waist, steadying her with little effort.

 

Together, they made their way across the roof of the fire truck, Billy’s arm still around her waist as she stumbled along to the ladder leading down to the street. Once safely on the ground, she swayed in relief. Before she could turn to speak to Billy, a dark haired woman in an EMT uniform was pressing an oxygen mask against her face and guiding her into the waiting ambulance.  

 

The woman sat her down and went about efficiently checking Abigail’s pulse and blood pressure. “My name is Miranda. Everything is looking well, but we’ll still need to take you to the hospital just to be sure there are no lingering effects from the smoke inhalation.” She looked out the ambulance and laughed a little to herself. “You may not be the only one going to the ER as it happens.”

 

Abigail followed Miranda’s amused gaze over by the fire truck where the other EMT hovered around Billy, clearly giving him orders that the much taller man didn’t seem thrilled to follow. The dark haired medic finally reached out and shoved hard at a point on the back of Billy’s shoulder, causing the fireman to jerk away with a visible wince. He immediately slumped, his entire posture that of a little boy caught out in a lie. The EMT pointed to the ambulance imperiously, and Abigail could see that Billy relented, carefully pulling off the heavy yellow rubber jacket with another wince. He handed it off to one of others at the truck before dutifully following the medic over to the ambulance and climbing in on the bench beside Abigail.

 

“Howell finally corner you then, Mr. Manderly?” Miranda said with an amused twist to her lips, apparently well familiar with reluctant heroes refusing to admit to injuries. “Let me take a look.”

 

She maneuvered around both Abigail and Billy to take a pair of scissors to the collar and sleeve of the T-shirt that was failing to contain the breadth of his shoulders and the frankly massive width of his biceps. Abigail blinked, trying not to stare. No wonder she’d felt so safe on the ladder. The chance of being unable to catch her if she fell seemed impossible with his arms no longer hidden by the bulky jacket. She caught Miranda eyeing her behind Billy’s back and ducked her head, embarrassed to be caught out in her stares and glad the oxygen mask was there to hide most of her blushing. Billy luckily hadn’t seemed to notice, fighting back another wince as Miranda poked and prodded at the shoulder she’d freed from the shirt sleeve.

 

“Just a superficial contusion, but I recommend you don’t go back out there tonight. There’s visible bruising already.” Miranda moved across the aisle between the two benches and pulled a cold pack out, wrapping it in a towel and then pressing it against Billy’s shoulder, ignoring his hiss at the chill against his skin. “Hold that, would you?”

 

Scowling at her, Billy complied, then looked at Abigail and rolled his eyes once Miranda’s back was turned. Abigail giggled, giddy from both the oxygen and the man beside her. She covered her mouth with her hands, mask and all, when Miranda turned, her eyebrow raised imperiously. When neither of her patients spoke, she shook her head wryly. “Well I can see where I’m not needed.”

 

She moved out the back of the ambulance and looked around, surveying the scene where the firemen continued to fight the blaze in the first and second floors of the dormitory. Abigail had a feeling she wouldn’t be moving back into her room any time soon.

 

After a few moments, Miranda leaned back into the ambulance. “It looks like we won’t have any more passengers to join the pair of you. Sit tight – we’ll have you to the hospital shortly.”

 

Billy looked like he wanted to argue, but Miranda closed the door before he could, leaving him to sit back against the wall of the ambulance with a huff. The ambulance began to move, and Abigail held on to the bench beside her for balance as the shifting of the vehicle back and forth caused her to sway a little, her shoulder brushing Billy’s by accident.

 

He stiffened at the contact, his head dropping to stare downward without meeting her eyes.

 

He didn’t move away though, and Abigail couldn’t help but hope he wouldn’t move at all. She pressed her shoulder a little more firmly against his. Then, almost without meaning to, she reached out and took his free hand in hers. At her touch, he lifted his eyes from the floor to look at her in surprise, eyebrows lifting in query.

 

She pulled the mask away from her face long enough to speak. “Thank you,” Abigail whispered, “for saving me.”

 

He licked his lips as if searching for a response, but gave up and just shrugged sheepishly in response and squeezed her hand back.

 

Later Abigail wouldn’t remember what they talked about during the ride to the hospital, or even if they spoke at all. All she could focus on was the feel of his hand in hers, never letting go for even a single moment of the journey.

 


End file.
